Improving Screening and Prevention of Chronic Conditions Due to Inflammation in People Living with Inflammatory Arthritis.
Scientific Study Title:
Proof of Concept Study of an EMR Reminder Intervention to Optimize the Primary and Secondary Prevention of Comorbidities in People with Inflammatory Arthritis.
Study Start Date:
January 2019
End Date:
Ongoing
Why Do This Research?
People living with inflammatory arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or lupus) are more likely than the average person to develop other chronic conditions related to inflammation. Examples of those conditions include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, infections, and some cancers. They are responsible for earlier death and lower quality of life. Studies show that people with inflammatory arthritis are not getting the recommended screening and management for the risk factors for the conditions. Studies also show that family physicians (FPs) are the ones who do most of the screening and preventive care.
What Will Be Done?
In this study, we are developing and pilot testing an automatic reminder built into electronic medical records (EMRs) of family physicians. When they see a patient with inflammatory arthritis, the reminder will prompt them to screen or test for the chronic conditions for which the patient is at increased risk.
After pilot testing the automatic reminders, we will perform a proof of concept study to show their feasibility. We will determine how physicians use the reminders with patients, the level of satisfaction of the reminders by physicians, and whether the reminders are effective at improving recommended screening and prevention of chronic conditions related to inflammation in people with inflammatory arthritis
We hope our intervention will prevent conditions related to inflammation in people with inflammatory arthritis. Prevention would improve life expectancy and quality of life and reduce health system costs.
How do people get involved?
This study is not open to the general public; recruitment is targeted at physicians.
Research Team
Principal Investigator:
Diane Lacaille, MDCM, MHSc, FRCPC, Scientific Director, Arthritis Research Canada (University of British Columbia)
Co-Investigators:
J. Antonio Avina-Zubieta, MD, MSc, PhD, FRCPC, Senior Scientist, Rheumatology, Arthritis Research Canada (University of British Columbia)
Claire Barber, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Research Scientist, Rheumatology, Arthritis Research Canada (University of Calgary)
John Esdaile, MD, MPH, FRCPC, FCAHS, MACR, Scientific Director Emeritus, Arthritis Research Canada (University of British Columbia)
Linda Li, BSc(PT), MSc, PhD, FCAHS, Senior Scientist, Implementation Science, Arthritis Research Canada (University of British Columbia)
Morgan Price, HBSc, MD, PhD, CCFP, Associate Professor, Department of Family Practice, (University of British Columbia)
Ling-I Olivia Tseng, MSc, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, (University of British Columbia)
Hui Xie, BSc, MS, PhD, Research Scientist, Biostatistics, Arthritis Research Canada (Simon Fraser University)
Research Staff:
Astrid Knight, MSc, Research Coordinator, Arthritis Research Canada
Funding Agency:
Canadian Initiative for Outcomes in Rheumatology Care (CIORA), The Arthritis Society, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Precision Grant
